The data show that a substantial number of school librarians in New Jersey actively provide a range of information technology-related professional development activities to faculty. This is commendable, and shows a clear commitment to whole school development in term of effective use of information technology. The highest levels of involvement are in high schools, with lowest levels of participation among elementary school librarians.

School librarians in New Jersey clearly take a strong instructional role in the providing students with the intellectual and technical scaffolds to engage with information technology in efficient and productive ways. Teaching search strategies, both in relation to the internet and specialized databases, library catalogs and directories, is given the most widespread emphasis. It is particularly encouraging to see the early adoption and integration of a range of web 2.0 technologies, tools and techniques to support curriculum content standards. This is highly commendable.

Overall, the qualitative responses of the participants collectively show the contribution of school libraries to the development of the whole child. The school library is portrayed as an agency for intellectual development, for social and cultural growth of students as they grow up in a complex and diverse information world. According to the evidence provided by the school librarians, the school library works to meet core content standards, to develop a wide range of information handling competencies and to provide students with the intellectual and technical scaffolds they need to learn and be ethical and productive users and consumers of information. School librarians in New Jersey clearly do engage in a range of information literacy instruction initiatives. This instruction primarily centers on knowing about the school library, knowing about difference sources and formats, with sound levels related to understanding the different strategies in doing effective research, learning how to use the resources, evaluating information for quality, and learning to use information ethically.

The school libraries in the high-performing schools spent over two and a half times as much money per 100 students on electronic access to information (e.g., online database searching, Internet access) than did those in the low-performing schools.

Technology was a component of School Library Media Center Services… [T]his component was composed of six variables concerning technology availability and usage. This analysis shows that the component of Technology was significantly correlated with student achievement, represented by the Overall Weighted Average Map Index, when other variables were not present.

… [T]he Library Usage component included the library use time of typical students. This component contained nine variables. This analysis shows that the Library Usage component was significantly correlated with student achievement, represented by the Overall Weighted Average Map Index, when other variables were not present.

… The Librarian Qualifications component was computed by aggregating the relevant questions of the questionnaire. The questionnaire asked a series of questions pertaining to the highest level of education and certification the paid library staff had obtained. The component was composed of one variable for a librarians’ education and experience weighted by the work hours. This analysis shows that the Librarian Qualifications component was significantly correlated with student achievement, represented by the Overall Weighted Average Map Index, when other variables were not present.

There is a statistically significant relationship between higher reading scores and larger school media center budgets. Students taking the reading tests in grades 5, 7, 8, and 10 scored between 3 and 6 points higher on those tests in schools with higher media center expenditures.